Reel Club - Oak Brook

Any scoop on Reel Club - the new LEYE seafooder in the old Papagus space at Oak Brook?

Opened a month ago in the space formerly occupied by Papagus, and we tried it last night. We will definitely go back based on the considerable strength of one course.
Overall:
Atmosphere is indeed "clubby" chic.
Dress, "mall wear."
The place is enjoying the popularity of being new, no reservations available except 4:30 & 9:30pm on Sat.
They feature seafood or course, but they have beef, pork, chicken, pasta, salads, sandwiches, etc. so anyone can find something to eat there.
The presentation is excellent, everything we got and all the other dishes we saw go by. Server told us lunch presentations are even more visually appealing.
Wine list is decent, compact, although there was a more extensive wine list available on request (we didn't ask this time).
Starters:
Shrimp cocktail - beautiful presention, 10 (albeit smallish) shrimp - 3 sauces (great remolade), very good but not exceptional.
Crab cake - nice presentation, very good but not extraordinary. Was served with a pile of parsley - far more than a typical garnish with sliced radishes and light dressing so I assumed it was supposed to be a salad. Does anyone eat parsley as the greens for salad - I didn't "get it."
Entrees (for reference we've been to Nick's, Catch 35, Bob Chinn's, McCormick & Schmick's, Joe's Stone Crab, Redfish, Riva, Shaw's, Burhop's, Braxton, our favorite Roy's and others):
Grilled Swordfish w Rosemary - OUTSTANDING, great piece of fish perfectly cooked.
Seafood Milanese - STUNNING. They have 3 varieties of "seafood Milanese" a novel idea I had never seen before, I chose the Grouper variation. Lemon caper sauce was fabulous. Very lightly breaded, excellent piece of fish also cooked perfectly.
Dessert:
Sorbet, green apple and blood orange - too full for any more, green apple was yummy, blood orange was a little disappointing- tasted like grapefruit (not like blood orange, and I've had many).

Again, we will most definitely go back. The other so-called seafood place at Oakbrook is in trouble now IMHO...

Hubby and I ate there the first week they opened. Now I can't remember if we made reservations or just walked in...sorry. Facing a brief wait for a table we opted to sit in the bar. High tables close together but very conversation friendly. In fact, the entire experience was quite conversation friendly and we noted and really appreciated being able to talk. I remember suggesting this would be a great place to bring my parents because my father would be able to join the conversation because he'd actually be able to hear it.

The crab cake comes as an appetizer (one) or entree (two) so I ordered one with a salad. Lovely presentation with lump crab and a tangy mustard sauce. Paired with a small salad, it was enough food for me as I'm a light eater.

I believe hubby had the seafood milanase but I can't remember which one and don't have notes. sorry.

Service was attentive without being overbearing. The manager and chef stopped by our table to see how we enjoyed the meal, nice touches but half expected given they had just opened.

It's in the old Papagus location which always seemed more destination dining than post-shopping. I consider Reel Club the same. Parking is a pain but LEYE has valet parking for them and Wildfire from the same stand.

We plan to go back and I'll make more careful food notes.

Stopped by Reel Club last week on a Thursday night. It was about half full, maybe a little more. Its a very nice room, one thing that seems a common trend at all LEYE restaurants. The look reminded my of a nice spa, understated and calming.

Service was a little touch and go, mainly due to our waitress who may have been new. We sat down and very promptly were given menus, water, and "bread" which consisted of bready cheese puffs sprinkled with salt and pepper. I found them quite tasty as an unexpected starter, although Mrs. WAK was not quite as impressed.

And then no one showed up. We were talking amongst ourselves for a while when I noticed that ten minutes had passed and no waiter had yet stopped by. I waived over one waiter and asked if anyone had been assigned to our table. He was very apologetic, took our drink orders (nice Sauv. Blanc and an Albarino by the glass) and a few minutes later the waitress showed up with some sort of excuse. Throughout the meal she was competant, but nothing spectacular.

For appetizer, we had the Crunchy Munchy Shrimp [sic] which was good - typical deep fried shrimp with a lemon tang, but quite light and not at all oily. They reminded me of the deep fried clams that I was fond of growing up in New England. Served with remolade that I found a little bland. Spicing up the remolade would have helped a lot, but I enjoyed the course.

For entree, Mrs. WAK had the swordfish which was quite good. I recall tasting some asian type spices - maybe soy and ginger although the menu said roesmary grilled. I had the Hot and Crunchy Tilapia (encrusted with pepper flakes, almonds, and sesame) which was good for the first half, but then a little bland. Not particularly spicy after the first couple of bites. It was served on a plate with a small arugala salad but no sauce of any kind. Something as simple as a lemon butter sauce or vinagarette would have helped. We also ordered a side of steamed spinach which added a lot to the Tilapia when I piled some on top and ate the two togther.

For dessert we had a chocolate truffle pie with a delicious Oreo crust, but I thought the filling tasted like thick Jello Pudding.

Overall I thought the meal was good,, if a little conservative. I wouldn't order the Tilapia or Truffle pie again, but everything else I'd gladly try a second time. Atmosphere was nice, service overall good for a new place. I might try the Seafood Milanese if I'm ever back since that seems to get good review. I'd put the overall experience about on the same level as Wildfire - which is not a bad thing in my book, especially for a restaurant attached to a mall. Not the best seafood you will have in Chicago, but a well executed if not spectacular meal and an overall enjoyable experience.

Since there doesn’t seem to be a lot LTH written on this place, I thought I would add my two cents. I went there for lunch today and had: crab & corn soup, calamari appetizer, and butterscotch crème boulee.

I thought both the soup and the calamari were excellent. However, I did not like the dessert. I like crème boulee and I have never had butterscotch flavor, so…..

Now it might just be me and this was the best butterscotch crème boulee in the world, but I thought it was way too sweet and the over powering flavor, seemed to me, to be artificial. I would be interested how they make this and how they get the butterscotch flavor. WAK above said he thought the chocolate truffle pie tasted like thick Jello Pudding. Well that is what I thought about this, only bad butterscotch flavored pudding.

Service was very good.

D.

Had dinner there a couple of weeks ago after Mon Ami Gabi in the same area was way overbooked and we had to wait an hour after our reservation time. Reel Club was no less crowded but we took the last two seats in the bar. I was pleasantly surprised. We had the parmesan crusted scallop appetizer and it was decadently good (half the menu is "parmesan crusted" if that's your thing). The service was a debacle but I got a free drink out of it, so what do I care? I agree with the previous poster about the milanese menu--we had the grouper and the tilapia, which I generally dont order out, and both were outstanding. No dessert,. had to get home to baby. Decently priced menu, good bar and value wine list. That whole stretch of the mall in Oak Brook is absurdly crowded on weekends though, so if you value your personal space I would avoid prime times.

I am thinking of going here for lunch today but a couple of qustions first:

1) any recent reviews, Reel Club has been on my list to try for a while

2) I plan on eating at the bar, do they have a good tequila selection?

3) Has anyone tried the RC Business lunch ($14 for soup or small salad, entree, and desert taste). The crab roll, the mahi sandwich, the Louie Louie salad(small upcharge) have caught my eye.

I went there for lunch last month, and liked it a lot - fresh seafood, with interesting preparations. One thing that surprised me was that they seemed to be doing so well; well over half the tables were occupied, and for a Monday lunch at a nice restaurant, even in a popular suburban mall, that's pretty darn good. Given the shoppers this time of year, it wouldn't hurt to make a reservation if you can, just to be sure.